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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Spying---- yes---we are watching you!

It comes as no revelations that the USA and other countries’ are ‘spying on their citizens. When has it been any different? What is different is the ease with which they can now do it. Every aspect of our lives is under scrutiny, form the mindless carp we do on Facebook to the more serious potentially dangerous national issues around terrorism. For the latte I can understand but even then there is a fine line. If someone is openly accessing and discussing the making of bombs—well they get what they deserve.I am concerned about other information gathering exercises. Hell at the rate this is happening, why bother doing a census? It’s all there for them without us doing anything. OK, just kidding, I think!

What I find totally hypocritical is the stance some nations take when they criticise others for ‘infringing’ on the rights of the citizens, then that same nation does exactly the same re its own citizen., We all know that the USA has delved into the affairs of other nations and those same nations reciprocate. It does not take a ‘super computer’ to achieve such goals buy possessing one makes the exercise even more ‘complete.’

Of course having said the above, most of us continually provide information about our purchasing habits every time we complete a survey online or just by the very act of using a computer we unknowingly ‘give’ information. It does not take much to take the next step and have more sinister actions enacted upon us.

Cyber war is a reality, be it geo-political or economic. The DDV’s from Hollywood and elsewhere are but a portent of what is possible. Some idiot with megalomaniac tendencies may be much closer to the truth than we realize. Give the enhanced powers that computers and cyber spying offer and add the political gamesmanship that many world government enact upon their people and it is not hard to make the jump between fantasy and reality.

I try not to think too much about what may be happening. I am indeed glad that I do not belong to a fringe group, pushing for radical change in society, even though I believe that change is needed in many areas of our lives and in the way we are governed. It goes without saying that even in little New Zealand---we are watched. I damned glad that I am not in China, Russia the USA and most other countries in the world!